Training Qualifications UK had a busy Summer Transfer window with five new recruits signing on the dotted line August 8th. The trusty fax machine held up, the deals were done and we added five new TQUK members of staff to strengthen the team. We sit down with Michelle, Eve, Tom (Frosty), Mike and Matt to discuss their opening weeks with TQUK.
Hi all, welcome to Training Qualifications UK, we hope you’ve all had a great opening couple of weeks. Formalities out the way, how’s things been going?
Michelle: My first week at TQUK has been very exciting, friendly and reassuring. It has been lovely to meet everyone and be welcomed by such lovely staff that have made myself and the other new starters part of the team straight away. I think we all feel a little like that? [looking around the room]
Eve: Yeah, absolutely, before coming to TQUK every job I have ever worked in has been an acting job or something to do with the media. I have never worked in an office environment like this before and nowhere has made me feel more welcome!
Frosty: Straight away from my interview with Katie, Paul and Natasha, I knew I would fit in well here. I won’t go into the specifics of the interview, but it was definitely an experience and somehow I think I‘ve already signed myself up for a charity chest/back wax. Definitely do things differently here!
Matt: I’ll be 100% honest, when I was 7 years old I never expressed out loud that “when I grow up, I want to work in Operations at an Awarding Organisation” [we don’t think many people have Matt] however, when I found out there was a job going in the local area, with a fantastic up and coming company, it definitely peaked my interest.
When I showed up to my interview to the sight of a net, paddles and ping pong balls, I knew that this would be a company that does things differently. Since then things have only gone from strength to strength, the company is filled with great, hard-working people.
What have you been up to so far in the office?
Eve: In this first week we’ve had a lot of training sessions to get us started. It was very clear from the beginning that everybody had their very own important roles here. I have learnt a lot about the history of the company, how far it has come and all the plans for continuous expansion.
I have enjoyed learning about all the different departments and how they make up the business. It has made me very interested in all the different types of roles that they have here.
Michelle: Yes, I think that early training has given us a better understanding of the company and how each department is run. It gave us an insight into how each member of the team players their part to improve and build the company as a whole.
Each session gave us a greater understanding of how our roles will help to grow the company further. And it’s exciting to get started!
Frosty: Echoing what the guys have said already, the introductory weeks have been really helpful in understanding where my role fits in with the company and its goals.
How does your opening weeks here compare with previous positions?
Matt: I’ve had a short but “interesting” working career so far going from fast food, to charity fundraising, to selling solar panels to optimistic Brits (was always very upfront with them about the lack of sun!). Possibly due to being a little bit too honest about the horrific weather we experience 363 days of the year for my last job, I found myself back at a recruitment agency looking for work but I’m so glad the path has brought me to TQUK.
Saying that my colleagues have been welcoming and kind to me and my fellow new starters would be a huge understatement. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first two weeks at TQUK.
Frosty: In previous jobs, I’ve been required to start performing my job from day 1 with little to no background or training. You’re often left not understanding what or why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you see yourself as just another cog in the machine.
Having spent the last week surrounding myself in this new industry and the company’s role in the market, I’m excited to get stuck into my role and utilise my skills to embody my role as an End Point Assessment Coordinator.
Michelle: I feel very comfortable asking questions and interacting fully with all team members if I am struggling. Within TQUK it is very apparent that everyone plays a role within the team. The team are consistently going above and beyond for their clients making sure to give the best service possible.
Eve: The office has a buzz about it and a very exciting future ahead which I am looking forward to being a part of. It is a driven and motivated atmosphere here but also very friendly and everybody looks out for one another which is rare to find in a business. I am looking forward to starting this new role as End-Point Assessment Liaison Officer at TQUK and making it my own!
We’re a big brew drinking crew at TQUK towers, what’s your preferred method of brewing?
Frosty: Coffee, milk and two sugars. If I’m having tea, leave the tea bag in and a drop of milk – nothing more!
Eve: a teaspoon of coffee, water, milk and two sugars
Mike: Coffee, 50/50
Matt: Filled to the brim with sugar and milk
Michelle: Neither, I’m not a fan of them.
When you were in primary school, what did you want to be when you were older?
Eve: I wanted to be on the West End with my name in lights.
Michelle: Always wanted to be a dancer, perhaps in the West End too!
Mike: A fire marshall, so I became a bartender!
Frosty: Something completely different to those, I wanted to be a vet, all the way up until I was about 17.
Matt: Marine Biologist
The pop quizzes and trivia games are a formality in the office, which three celebrities would you bring to a dinner party?
Michelle: President Bush, President Obama and Richard Branson
Eve: Skepta, Leonardo Dicaprio and Rhianna
Frosty: David Attenborough for the cool nature stories. Peter Kay for the jokes, and Morgan Freeman to narrate the whole thing.
Matt: Freddie Flintoff, Dean Windass and Simon Pegg.
Mike: Eminem, G-Eazy, David De Gea
Which one CD/or Spotify playlist could you have on repeat and never get tired of?
Matt: The Killers – Hot Fuss (although I skip Mr Brightside). But I completely believe that an AUX cable should be shared equally!
Frosty: I like most music so it would be whatever genre I’m into on that day. I’m a bit of a repeat player, and if I find a song or album I like, it will be on repeat for the next week or so, this is something that my old housemates have had some passive-aggressive comments about in the past. I’m a big James Morrison fan and he released a new album a few months ago, so that makes it rounds every few days in our house at the moment. Other than that, a bit of old-school Soul Legends like Bill Withers, Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke never go a miss.
[when pushed for a single CD] Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane, the first CD I owned and I know pretty much all the words
Michelle: Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, of course!
Eve: Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Mike: G-Eazy – The Beautiful and Damned
Any hidden skills or talents that we could know about? Any secrets you could reveal that nobody in the office would know?
Frosty: I know a few magic tricks which I learnt as a way of bribing my old tutoring pupils into doing some work. Not the most useful skill to have and I try not to be ‘that magic trick guy’, but I might get them out one day…
Secrets? Not really, I do have two pet rats called Biscuit and Sunday though?
Eve: My brother once broke three of my toes
Michelle: My partner and I share the same last name, and we’re not married or related.
Mike: I speak fluent Polish
Matt: I nearly always wear very slightly odd socks… and not on purpose.
Final question, you’ve got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you going to go?
Frosty: New Zealand, it’s one of the most amazing landscapes in the world and the people are incredibly nice.
Mike: Vietnam
Michelle: Bora Bora
Eve: Miami, on the beach with unlimited cocktails
Matt: Salema, in the Algarve
[worldwide then!]